Guido & Ellen Palma Foundation
The Guido and Ellen Palma Foundation was established in 1998 to honor the memory of two individuals who provided philanthropic support, volunteer service and civic leadership to the Greater Rochester Community. Their interest in arts and nature, and charitable work on behalf of youth provided the impetus for the creation of the foundation bearing their names.
Our Mission
To support arts and nature programming for the youth of Monroe County, New York and surrounding regions.
Grant Process Overview
Each year, the Foundation solicits proposals for funding for one year projects, one time capital expenditures or three year start up projects. Organizations seeking funding can only apply for one type of grant within each grant year.
In order to be considered for funding, an organization must have approved tax-exempt status, and reside in a ten county region surrounding Rochester, NY (Monroe, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Ontario, Yates, Seneca, Cayuga and Wayne). Proposals must be focused on programs for youth in the areas of arts and nature, or both.
The Foundation does not have the resources to be considered a sustaining funder for any organization. As such, it has always exercised a policy of limitation upon the number of consecutive years that an agency will be eligible for funding. While that limitation was waived during the height of COVID, the Foundation will be returning to its policy of restricting sequential years of funding to four. At that point, there will be a one year hiatus from grant eligibility, after which organizations will once again be eligible for four consecutive years of funding.
Requests for proposals are solicited in September. The application requires no more than three pages of descriptive materials along with the submission of an annual report and proof of 501(c)(3) status. Deadline for submission will be in November, on a date specified in the Grant Application section. Funding decisions are made by the Board in December and all grant disbursements are made before the end of that month. Interim and/or final report on grant progress and completion are mandatory at designated times.